Hugo Chavez just died

[Serb]

I found this to be an interesting read.

For others, he was a hero: a dark-skinned child of the slums who beat down rapacious corporations and gave his country’s oil money to the poor and championed the marginalized.

Hi, NYE, I don't want to read more. This line says everything. He was a hero. And may him rest in peace.

[Serb]

Soviet crankypants

I love the pants on your avatar too.
Really, it's a nice butt!

[Sava]

chavez was a stupid fool and a deranged psychopath
just like any other world leader

butt

[MichaeltheGreat]

You will never understand what the Soviet SPIRIT was, the spirit which crushed the Nazi spirit. RED spirit versus BLACK spirit.

And then collapsed due to its own ineptitude and Russia has been struggling for relevance and a sense of self-worth ever since?

[Serb]

Well, aside you've always been a product of your system (I mean - an idiot. But the one whom I have a symphaty to), at least we can agree about butts. No ofence.

I can't change you, but I've always wanted to ask you one question: "How do you feel? Are you American or Serb?". These two countries fought vs. each other. One have been attacked by the other. How did you feel back then in 1999? Really.

[MichaeltheGreat]

Hi, NTY, I don't want to read more. This line says everything. He was a hero. And may him rest in peace.

Or in pieces, since they can't enbalm him.

[Serb]

And then collapsed due to its own ineptitude and Russia has been struggling for relevance and a sense of self-worth ever since?

Collapsed to due to its own naivety, lack of understanding of what is going on and yes, you are right - due to a lack of spirit. It's a pain to admit this. It's true. But we are reganing the spirit we have lost.
You remind me a sort of French or British smartass, somewhere at the end of 20s, who seriously thought that Germany is a joke after defeat in the Great War, that is all over and you can do whatever you wish on this planet.
We will stop you. 'cause nobody else has balls to do that.
We did that before, we'll do that again, as long as we regain the spirit we have lost.

[MichaeltheGreat]

Hope you don't run out of Vodka any time soon, cuz you'll need it when you realize Zhirinovsky and Pooty-Poot are just posturing for domestic consumption. Zhirinovsky is irrelevant in the first case, Pooty-Poot only relevant in that he can maintain the tradtional impotence of the UN in case China doesn't pick up his slack.

[Serb]

Or in pieces, since they can't enbalm him.

Really? I mean, who told you they can't? They will keep his body as a symbol of resistance, like it or not.

Me thinks it's you are the one who's pissed on his cornflakes today.

[Kidlicious]

I found this to be an interesting read.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/doug-saunders-hugo-chavez-had-nothing-to-do-with-south-americas-real-revolution/article9552917/

Hugo Chavez had nothing to do with South America's real revolution

Doug Saunders
The Globe and Mail
Published Saturday, Mar. 09 2013, 6:00 AM EST
Last updated Thursday, Mar. 14 2013, 6:22 PM EDT


What ended this week, with the death of Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, was a continent-wide experiment in the transformation of human life through politics.

Outside South America, Mr. Chavez was a polarizing figure: His outspoken anti-Americanism and alliances with the dictators of Iran, Libya and Iraq led him to be demonized by many as a Cold War-style threat. For others, he was a hero: a dark-skinned child of the slums who beat down rapacious corporations and gave his country’s oil money to the poor and championed the marginalized.

For the outside world, then, the legacy of his “Bolivarian revolution” is a contest of left and right. But within South America, something much more interesting took place during his 14 years in power – something that offers important lessons.

Mr. Chavez was far from the only leftist to govern a Latin American country in the 21st century: Within a decade of his 1999 election, left-wing leaders had come to office in Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Paraguay and El Salvador; they now govern about two-thirds of the region’s people.

But they’re not all the same. If the great divide in the 20th century was between pro-American right-wing strongmen and anti-American Marxist autocrats, after 1999, it was between two varieties of left-wing government.

Some countries, notably Brazil and Chile, elected parties that embraced open trade and market economies and used the resulting tax revenues to build social programs and redistribute income. They are the social democrats. Others, notably Argentina and Venezuela, preferred to impose national control of key industries, block trade and foreign investment, control prices and give resource income directly to the poor. They tend to call themselves democratic socialists.

This showdown between social democrats and democratic socialists took place at a fortuitous moment: Oil and natural resource booms were boosting revenues; six decades of intense urbanization had ended in stable populations; and the U.S. had become less confrontational. As a result, poverty declined and the gap between rich and poor narrowed in almost all of these countries. But there was a big difference between the two systems.

A study by economists Darryl McLeod and Nora Lustig found that, in Argentina and Venezuela, inequality was reduced back to early 1990s levels after peaking in the early 2000s. But in social democratic Brazil and Chile, smart policies cut inequality to record-low levels: “Though both regimes reduced inequality and poverty,” once you remove the inevitable effects of rising oil prices, “only the social democratic regimes appear to break with the past, reducing inequality to historic lows.”

The Chavez approach helped the poor by giving them some money and health care. This isn’t to be dismissed: It sharply reduced the worst forms of misery. But neighbouring countries did the same while also creating a sustainable future beyond poverty; they created the business opportunities and economic institutions that make it possible for the poor to enter the middle class.

In Brazil and Chile, according to research by the Washington-based Center for Global Development, the size of the middle class expanded, to a fifth and a third of the population. In Venezuela, during the first half of the Chavez years, it collapsed to 3 per cent from 21 per cent, as the private-sector economy crumbled, and doesn’t appear to have recovered.

Here’s where the difference between Venezuela and Brazil is not simply one of degree, but of a fundamental nature: The populist, highly nationalist socialism of Mr. Chavez did serious damage to the institutions that could give people a path out of poverty. His neighbours spent a decade strengthening them.

Because Mr. Chavez regulated food prices and discouraged commercial farming, slashing agricultural capacity, there are major food shortages and hours-long lineups at government-subsidized supermarkets. Electricity supplies are sporadic, schools teach thin propaganda in place of a curriculum, cities and roads are crumbling, and hospitals are among the worst on the continent. This petroleum superpower has not saved or invested anything. On the contrary, Venezuela has a 20-per-cent deficit and an inflation rate of 30 per cent a year.

The “Bolivarian revolution” was not new politics but rather a copy of Venezuela’s policies of the 1970s and early 1980s, with the same results. Then, it was followed by a post-oil collapse back into poverty. This time, there were other, smarter options. They still exist, just over the border.

Nothing new to read. Everyone knows you can make it easy for some to become rich while making life harder for the vast majority who suffer in poverty.

[Sava]

Well, aside you've always been a product of your system (I mean - an idiot. But the one whom I have a symphaty to), at least we can agree about butts. No ofence.

I can't change you, but I've always wanted to ask you one question: "How do you feel? Are you American or Serb?". These two countries fought vs. each other. One have been attacked by the other. How did you feel back then in 1999? Really.

I'm only 1/4 Serb. I'm also 1/4 Croat, 1/4 Macedon and the rest is a mix of Slovak/American mutt.

I'm American, no doubt. The Serb community here in Chicago is very different from the one in Europe. I didn't agree with the NATO bombing of Serbia. But I understood why the US did it. Just another chance to poke the Russian bear.

War crimes and atrocities happened. They are well documented. However, Israel does worse. I might agree more with the US policy if it held Israel to the same standards. I also think that this doesn't excuse any corrupt Serbian ****head for slaughtering civilians. That's horrible and should be punished. I just want everyone to be punished... not just the ones America picks and chooses to spite rivals.

I find it ironic that NATO bombs Serbia while the KLA has known links to Al Qaeda.

Don't worry. I don't take offense. I don't think highly of the American system. Russia is just as bad if not worse. If Russia is so much better than America, how come everyone in the world wants to come here and not there? It's a desolate, frozen wasteland... that's why. I don't even think Russia's best city is better than Detroit. The whole country is a ****hole. The only redeeming thing about Russia is the women.

Having said that, I'd much rather the countries work together than squabble over stupid bull****.

I think you are a good guy Serb. I'd love to do shots of schlivovice with you.

[Kidlicious]

Russia would have been so much better off if they would have been conquered like Japan and Germany. No offense Serb.

[Sava]

Russia has been conquered for nearly 100 years. First by psychopaths. Then by criminals. And before that, monarchs. I feel bad for the Russian people.

[Serb]

I'm only 1/4 Serb. I'm also 1/4 Croat, 1/4 Macedon and the rest is a mix of Slovak/American mutt.

I'm American, no doubt. The Serb community here in Chicago is very different from the one in Europe. I didn't agree with the NATO bombing of Serbia. But I understood why the US did it. Just another chance to poke the Russian bear.

War crimes and atrocities happened. They are well documented. However, Israel does worse. I might agree more with the US policy if it held Israel to the same standards. I also think that this doesn't excuse any corrupt Serbian ****head for slaughtering civilians. That's horrible and should be punished. I just want everyone to be punished... not just the ones America picks and chooses to spite rivals.

So, you want justice? A justice for everyone, including US, right?

I find it ironic that NATO bombs Serbia while the KLA has known links to Al Qaeda.

LOL
The United States of America is in strategical alliance with Al Qaeda. It's its own creation. Links to Al Qaeda, my arse. Those links are everywhere where the US is killing people - Iraq, Lybia, Syria.

Don't worry. I don't take offense. I don't think highly of the American system. Russia is just as bad if not worse.

Sure, but at least we are not trying to destroy the World waving a fake "we brought you freedom with our bombs, and after we'll kill you, the survivours owe us your resourses" banner.

If Russia is so much better than America, how come everyone in the world wants to come here and not there? It's a desolate, frozen wasteland... that's why. I don't even think Russia's best city is better than Detroit. The whole country is a ****hole. The only redeeming thing about Russia is the women.

Well, actually, Detroit is not even a close to the best Russian city. Unfortunatelly for the rest of the Russia the best Rusian city is on top among the best cities of the World.

Having said that, I'd much rather the countries work together than squabble over stupid bull****.

That stupid b*ll**** calls politics, nope, it calls - history.

I think you are a good guy Serb. I'd love to do shots of schlivovice with you.

At least I wouldn't need an interpreter during the process. Sliva is sliva. I can understand that.
And for the barbarians - Sliva = plum and schlivovica is a plum liquer.

[Serb]

Russia would have been so much better off if they would have been conquered like Japan and Germany. No offense Serb.

LOL
F*cking nazis are back.


Whach this freaking peace of American propaganda already:


To understand how much you've been brainwashed since then.